Amelia Mayor Todd Hart attended the Batavia Township Board of Trustee meeting Oct. 7 to talk with trustees about a project to extend the sidewalk along Amelia-Olive Branch Road in the township and the village.

Hart said the village has been working on the project and has made a lot of progress already by speaking with land and business owners that will be affected.

“Of course money has always been an issue,” Hart said about getting the project completed.

He said because they created a Tax Increment Financing district in that area before Kroger Marketplace opened they now have funds for specific improvements like sidewalks in that area.

Amelia-Olive Branch Road ends at state Route 125 across from the new Kroger Marketplace.

Hart said many residents walk along the road where there is not a sidewalk, creating an unsafe situation.

“There is a path where people have been walking,” Hart said about the section of road.

He said some seniors are also take wheelchairs on the path to and from Crossings of Amelia, a Clermont Senior Services housing facility, and many students are also walking in that area to and from school.

“We are ready to at least move forward with our phase,” Hart said about the project.

Hart said the village’s phase will continue a sidewalk from where it currently ends to Crossings of Amelia.

Hart asked trustees if they would consider continuing the sidewalk beyond Crossings of Amelia.

“If you all could at least get it to Lucy Run that would be great,” Hart said.

Hart said they would love to be able to complete the whole project and even extend the sidewalks further than Lucy Run Road.

“We just don’t have that kind of money,” he said.

Hart said they have received several bids for their portion of the project. He said the bids came back between $20,000 and $30,000 for their phase of the project, or $50,000 for the whole project.

Trustees said they would look into the project and said they agree with some of the safety concerns.

Hart said he is hoping to be able to work together on more projects, including another project near Chapel Road.